> Politics after the election: what fight do we need?

Malcolm Turnbull narrowly held on at the July 2 election. But the election was nevertheless a major blow to his agenda of cuts and tax breaks for the rich. Yet not all the disaffection flowed to Labor or The Greens, with much flowing to centre-right parties and far-right parties like Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. The Greens are now fiercely debating the way forward. We’re bringing together activists on the left to discuss the way forward—and how we can build movements and action in the workplace. Lee Rhiannon, NSW Greens Senator, will join rank-and-file CFMEU activist and delegate Dennis McNamara and Solidarity activist Jean Parker on the panel that will kick off this weekend.

 

> Tipping points and the climate crisis: is it too late for a green revolution?

Wild weather, rising sea levels, the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef—climate change is happening, and the time we have to transform our energy systems is shortening. As Naomi Klein points out in her new book, This Changes Everything, the climate movement has been focused on small-scale lifestyle change or market-based solutions such as emissions trading schemes and carbon taxes. Solidarity activist Erima Dall, will how the drive for profit is antithetical to climate action, what a radical solution could look like, and the need for a movement based on working class action.

 

> Islamophobia, secularism and the French left

French politicians of all persuasions have plumbed the depths of Islamophobia—blaming Islam as a religion for terrorist attacks. It’s clear that Western war and racism breed terror, yet much of the French left has accepted a stereotypical view of Islam as backward and sexist and used ‘secularism’ as a justification to support crackdowns like a ban on the burqa. But a new hope has risen in the form of mass protests and strikes by French workers against the Socialist government’s Labour Law. Activist and writer Nick Riemer, just returned from France, will weigh up the situation, and argue for the importance of anti-racism.

 

> 50 years on: The Gurundji strike and the fight for Aboriginal rights

“Living structures no bigger than dog kennels… no sanitation provisions and no readily accessible water supply”. That’s how one activist described the conditions that Gurundji people were subject to in the 1960s on a cattle station run by pastoralist Lord Vestey, who paid his workers in rations. But the workers walked out on strike in an inspiring struggle that kicked off the modern Aboriginal rights’ movement and the historic campaign for land rights. Now, those gains are being attacked by bipartisan policies of intervention and neo-assimilation. Aboriginal rights activist, socialist and researcher Padraic Gibson will discuss the lessons the strike holds for today, and Jason de Santolo, UTS Lecturer and descendent of Garrwa and Barunggam peoples will discuss the campaigns against mining and for community control in the Northern Territory and the Gulf.

 

> Marxism 101: How Marx became a Marxist

The philosophers have merely interpreted the world—the point, however, is to change it. So said Karl Marx. With figures like Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn repopularising the idea of socialism, join us to discuss what revolutionary Marxism is all about. Marx (alongside Engels) developed historical materialism: an understanding that the world isn’t driven forward by ideas, but by material interests. And the working class, as the class that produces the wealth under capitalism, has a material interest in abolishing a crisis-prone system and establishing a new, equal society in its place. This session will provide a comprehensive introduction to how Marx developed his ideas on history and class struggle. Ideal for new activists.

 

> The politics of borders in Europe: refugees, racism and austerity

In the wake of the crisis in Syria, there are more refugees in the world now than during WW2. As millions make their way into Europe, the myths of a progressive European Union have been exposed as European states rebuild their borders, open detention camps and squabble over resettling the world’s most desperate people. Greece’s fascist party, Golden Dawn, and right-wing forces around Europe, are doing their best to place the blame for the economic crisis on migration. But tens of thousands are joining movements in solidarity with refugees, providing aid and organise to defend refugee rights. Greek socialist and anti-fascist Niki Argyri is a member of the national co-ordination of the Movement against Racism and Fascism in Greece that have been at the forefront of this battle. Don’t miss her this eyewitness account on the struggle for freedom and open borders in Europe.

 

> ‘Aussie jobs’, nationalism and the legacy of White Australia

Aussie jobs for Aussie workers? Sacked for Being Australian? Locals first? Local jobs? These are some of the slogans raised by trade unions in Australia in recent years. Exploitative visas for foreign workers like the 457 visa, and threats to shipping jobs, are behind the campaigns. But they are fundamentally mistaken. Appealing to nationalism won’t save jobs or protect foreign workers’ rights. There is another tradition in the union movement—a rich history of anti-racist struggle. Historian of White Australia and socialist Phil Griffiths will discuss the lessons from our history to argue why the unions must organise foreign workers and fight for equality and anti-racism.

 

> Mental illness and the sickness of capitalism

Under capitalism, we’re told everyone can make it—and if we don’t, our failures are all our own. Yet capitalism is a fundamentally unequal system, and our problems are social ones. Mental illness is one such social phenomenon—the conditions of exploitation, oppression and alienation encourage mental illness. Capitalism creates categories of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ behavior and thinking based on what suits the market system. Not only that, but it also sustains a massive industry of pharmaceuticals is based on individual, rather than social, cures. Those services that do provide help and support are constantly cut back and privatised. Join us to discuss mental illness under capitalism and the fight for a world where people are more important than profit.

 

> Trotsky vs Stalin: the tragedy of the Chinese revolution

The story of the Chinese revolution in 1925-27 is a crucial part of revolutionary history. Had it succeeded, world history would have been forever altered. China’s young working class stood on the brink of the seizure of power. A struggle against occupying imperialist powers combined with workers’ fights for their rights, and a general strike formed the basis of workers’ councils. But the Russians, through their international organisation the Comintern, advised Chinese workers to co-operate with Chinese capitalists against the imperialists—a critical mistake that led to the revolution’s slaughter. Trotsky argued against this line, and the Chinese revolution represented the first break between the emerging Stalinist regime and its left opposition. A crucial part of revolutionary history.

 

> The war at home: Women, work and militancy in WW2

The explosive history of women workers’ struggle in Australia during WW2 is little known, but it fundamentally changed women’s position in the workplace and society. It holds important lessons for us today, when a tiny number of women can run companies or countries, but most can’t get equal pay. During the war, women took jobs on the ‘home front’ that had previously been denied to them. Secure employment for the duration of the war boosted confidence and strike days reached levels not seen since the late 1920s. Solidarity activist Lucy Honan will discuss how women gained a sense of equality with their male co-workers through their struggle, often against their own trade male-dominated unions, and what it can tell us about the relationship between class and oppression.

 

> Reform vs revolution: Syriza and the Greek experiment

When Syriza took power in early 2015, the international left heralded their victory and many declared that the debate over reform and revolution was over. But fast forward 18 months and Syriza is now implementing austerity, running refugee detention centres and attacking workers’ protests. Yet workers are fighting back, with strikes and protests continuing and bringing in new sections of workers and becoming increasingly more militant. Meanwhile, the international debate over Brexit has rekindled the discussion over a Greek exit from the Eurozone and a way out of capitalism’s crisis. As part of Greek anti-capitalist party ANTARSYA, Niki Argyri has been at the forefront of the struggle and will discuss the lessons and challenges ahead in this crucial session.

 

> Revolution and counter-revolution in Syria

With his blog Syria Freedom Forever, Joseph Daher has followed developments in Syria since the beginning of the revolutionary uprising in 2012. The Syrian revolution has faced vicious repression and fighting has led to millions displaced. But even in its darkest days, Syrian democracy activists have continued to organise – during a brief ceasefire in February and March hundreds demonstrated to mark 5 years since the revolution. Joseph will discuss the hope for change in Syria today, as fighters for democracy struggle against the Assad regime, ISIS and false friends in the West.

 

> From Hanson to Turnbull: the war on terror, racism and civil liberties

In the name of protecting our safety, the Coalition has introduced umpteen new laws restricting civil liberties—such as laws that reverse the onus of proof for people travelling to the Middle East, laws to revoke citizenship, and others that give police new powers to spy on and harass Muslims. Meanwhile, Australia is committed to helping the US in bombing Iraq and Syria. Teachers and others have been encouraged to spy on students to spot signs of ‘radicalistion’. Human rights lawyer Jessie Smith has defended multiple people charged under these new laws, will join Caitlin Doyle-Markwick from Solidarity in this discussion about the fight for justice and against Islamophobia.

 

> Sexism, biological essentialism and the myths of gender

Men are from Mars, women are from Venus? Yeah, right. Biological justifications for sexism are resurgent. And walk into any children’s toy store and the aisles of pink and blue will confirm just how much limiting, oppressive sexist stereotypes are alive and well. Solidarity activist Amy Thomas will debunk the pseudoscience of gender difference and discuss how capitalism structures and polices gender roles.

 

> Marxism 102: What do we mean by revolution?

We don’t mean taking over parliament and trying to take over the system from within, like left-wing parliamentary parties. We don’t mean a small band of armed insurgents. We don’t mean the repressive state control of the Stalinist monolith. So what do we mean? Marx called socialism ‘the movement of the immense majority, in the interests of the immense majority’. Such a movement must overthrow the existing state and replace it with democratic workers’ power. Don’t miss this session for an essential explanation of what we mean by revolution and how it can happen.

 

> The socialist challenge: uniting the resistance

In our final session, we’ll bring the discussions of the weekend and lessons from the struggles together in this panel to discuss and debate how we can organise to win the change we need. We will be joined by Julie Ross, an activist in the new activist group Teachers for Refugees that’s organising educators to take action in support of refugees, Laura Lyons from Grandmothers against Removals, who are staunchly campaigning against shocking rates of Aboriginal child removal, Greek activist and socialist Niki Argyri, and Solidarity activist Adam Adelpour.